


I Think You Went To Hell

by grapeflavoredorange



Category: Super Smash Brothers
Genre: Arguing, Exploring, Gen, Getting Lost, Mystery, Smash Mansion, Stubbornness, humor-ish
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-29
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:35:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22948672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grapeflavoredorange/pseuds/grapeflavoredorange
Summary: When Link and Lucina find a mysterious room in the Smash Mansion that they've never seen before, they find it odd, but think nothing of it. However, when Link takes Joker and Ryuji back to explore, they discover that the room may be more trouble than it's worth.
Relationships: Link & Persona 5 Protagonist, Link (Legend of Zelda) & Lucina (Fire Emblem), Persona 5 Protagonist & Sakamoto Ryuji
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	1. The Discovery

**Author's Note:**

> hello hello hi hello i was thinking today that there's not enough creepy/mystery smash fics out there and so i decided to be the change that i want to see in the world  
> i'm sorry for writing so much stuff abt joker but i just love writing him + the phantom thieves in general and i couldn't write a ~mysterious~ smash story without including one of the darkest-looking characters in the game  
> this ended up being much longer than i wanted it to be and there's way too many horror cliches but i like them so i hope they're not too annoying  
> i hope u enjoy

Everyone has something special to them.

It doesn’t have to be an object. It can be a song, a memory, a feeling, a scent, an experience. 

Lucina’s was walking.

No, not just walking anywhere. Whenever she felt like she needed to be alone, Lucina would head out into the woods and walk around aimlessly for a little while, accompanied by the crunch of leaves under her feet and the sounds of wind whispering through the trees. It was a relaxing, personal thing, something Lucina couldn’t share with another, not even with those who were closest to her. When it was raining or snowing, she would wander the seemingly endless halls of the Mansion instead, enjoying the smells of old wood and leather. Sometimes she would pass by other Smashers, give them a wave or a smile, and keep walking. 

Sometimes, Lucina would stop and examine pictures on the walls or old books on shelves from Smash tournaments of the past, wondering what it was like with such a small roster. She gazed at the group pictures from the very first tournament, noticing “Smash Bros. 1996” written in a corner in black marker, the ink leaking into the yellowed paper. Everyone in the picture looked so different, so much younger, and brighter, too. Lucina admired the picture for a moment, before turning and continuing her walk, still thinking about the photo. The original twelve. What about the other characters who hadn’t made the cut? she wondered. Sure, there were more competitors in the Melee tournament, and even more in Brawl, but what about those who wanted to fight, but didn’t get in? Yes, some were assist trophies, but that didn’t equate to being a real fighter. Were they jealous? Angry? Did their envy cause them to feel resentment against Smash as a whole? Or did they just not care? The thoughts swirled around Lucina’s head as she walked deeper and deeper into the Mansion, passing fewer and fewer fighters as she went. The hallways were nearly silent, save for Lucina’s footsteps and the occasional floor creak. She was seeing fewer and fewer doors, but never any less framed pictures on the walls. Portraits of fighters, action shots of battles, group pictures, scenery. The light from the thin lamps hanging over the pictures seemed to be growing dimmer as Lucina continued walking, making it harder for her to see. She began feeling as if someone were watching her, as one does when they are alone for too long. She was about to turn around and make her way back to the grand hallway, when she heard approaching footsteps from ahead. Placing her hand on her sword, Lucina squinted her eyes to try to see who, or what was approaching her. The outline of a person grew nearer and nearer, and although her heart was pounding, she held her stance. They were getting closer and closer, and the outline became clearer and clearer, and Lucina was ready to draw her sword, until the person came into view.

It was Link. He looked like he had been feeling the same anxiety she had as they approached each other, but his nervous frown turned into a small smile when he saw her. “Oh, it’s you!” she exclaimed, placing a hand over her chest. “I was so nervous, I had no idea who was coming. What are you doing back here?” Link shrugged and stared at the floor. “I could ask you the same…” he mumbled. Lucina smiled. “I was just taking a walk. I wanted to go through the woods, but it was raining earlier, so I decided to walk around here instead, and I was just about to head back,” she said. “It’s kind of creepy back here, isn’t it?” she asked, looking at Link. He shrugged. “Well, I’m going to start heading back. Do you want to come?” Lucina asked. Link thought for a moment, then nodded. They headed down the seemingly never-ending hallway together in silence, not saying much to each other. Lucina caught glances of the pictures on the walls as she walked by, noticing something. Each picture looked a bit more yellowed as she passed by. Maybe it was the lighting, or maybe it was her eyes adjusting to the darkness, but either way, it was creepy. She didn’t bring it up until she stopped suddenly, staring at the wall. 

“Hey, come look at this,” she called to Link, who was still walking. Startled, he turned around and walked back to Lucina, who was standing in front of a door. “What is it?” he asked, confused. “This door wasn’t here before”, she said. “I swear it wasn’t.” Link turned and examined the door, looking closely at it. He had never seen it before, yet it felt so familiar to him. It was old and regal-looking, with a weathered golden doorknob that looked like it hadn’t been touched in years. He knelt down and blew the dust off of it, before standing back up and looking at Lucina. “I’ve never seen this door either,” he said quietly. “It looks really old…” They looked at each other for a moment, wondering if they should go inside or tell somebody first. It was silent for another few seconds, then Lucina spoke up. “I think we should go inside,” she said. “Don’t you?” Link saw the determined look on her face, then nodded. “Let’s go.”

Lucina grabbed the doorknob, turned it, and let go, brushing the leftover dust off her hand. The door opened slowly, creaking ominously. Link and Lucina peered into the room, Lucina felt around the wall for a light switch, eventually finding one and switching it on. They stepped inside as the room lit up, illuminating everything inside. The walls were covered with framed photos and awards, shelves filled to the brim with trophies, all covered in dust. There were mahogany-colored leather couches squished in between beautiful wooden bookshelves and potted plants that looked alive and healthy, despite being covered in a thin layer of dust. In the center of the room was a dark red rug underneath a large billiards table, the balls arranged in a neat triangle in the center with the sticks lined up neatly at the sides. Lucina gasps in awe, letting out a quiet “wow”. Link begins to look around. The room is beautiful, but something seems off about it. He examines the pictures on the walls. They’re the same pictures from the hallways, group photos taken during previous tournaments. He sees himself in all of them, giving the camera the same blank, stoic stare. As he looked further, he noticed that some of the photos weren’t even from Smash. There were pictures from the Smashers’ own games, too, and they were all labeled. There was one of Mario and Luigi in front of Princess Peach’s castle, labeled “Mario Bros. 1985”. There was one of Pikachu playing in a field, labeled “Pokemon Yellow, 1998”. Kirby in front of a tree, labeled “Kirby’s Dream Land, 1992”. Mario again, punching a question block, “Super Mario Land, 1989”. They were all old and yellowing and covered in dust, and although they were nice pictures, there was just something so off-putting about them that Link couldn’t quite put his finger on. He didn’t like how in every picture, whoever was in it was smiling at the camera, but their grin didn’t quite meet their eyes. They seemed worried, almost, like they were being threatened. Just as Link realized this, he noticed something else. Apart from Lucina’s footsteps and her occasionally saying something under her breath, the room had stayed relatively silent, save for one sound. Link hadn’t noticed it until it stopped, but until that point, a clock had been ticking somewhere in the room. As he took a step back from the wall, Link suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. Shocked, he spun around, only to see it was Lucina.

“Calm down! It’s only me!” She said, taking a step back. “Sorry,” he murmured. “I got scared…” He trailed off and looked around the room again, trying to find the stopped clock, but he couldn’t see one anywhere. “Hey, did you hear a clock ticking up until a few seconds ago?” Link asked. Lucina raised an eyebrow. “A clock?” she replied, confused. “I didn’t hear a clock. It’s been silent here ever since we came in.” Link tapped his chin, thinking hard. He was about to say something, when Lucina spoke up again. “Maybe there was a clock somewhere, and it was one of those things that you don’t notice until it’s over?” Link scratched the back of his head, looking up at the ceiling. “Yeah, I guess so,” he said. It was silent for a moment before he spoke up again. “We should get going.” Without another word, the two nodded at each other, and quickly left the room, turning off the lights and closing the door tightly behind them.

  
✭ ✭ ✭

“Really? A secret room that nobody else has heard about or seen, and _you_ , a veteran Smasher, only just found it?”

At dinner, Link was seated in between Joker and Red, who he had told his story to after they asked why he looked so uneasy. Red stayed moderately quiet while Link explained what happened, but Joker seemed completely absorbed, which seemed odd to Link, as he usually only talked this enthusiastically with the other Phantom Thieves. “So, whaddya think, Red?” Joker asked, leaning over the table so Red could hear him. He just shrugged. “This place is huge, dude.” he said. “There’ll always be new stuff to discover.” Joker rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but this special retro room with tons of pictures of all the original guys, and Link didn’t know about it?” he said. “There’s gotta be something fishy going on, right, Link?” Link just shrugged and took another bite of his dinner. “I mean, I guess it was a little weird, but it’s just another room,” he said. “I can show you guys later, if you want…” 

“Show them what?” A voice from behind them asked. All three turned around in their seats, looking up at them. It was Lucina. She looked mildly annoyed, her arms crossed and her foot tapping. “If you’re planning on telling more people about that room-” she began, but Joker interrupted her. “Are you coming with us?” he asked excitedly. Lucina glared at him and held her hand out to stop him from getting out of his seat. “No, and I don’t want you-” she pointed at Link- “going back there either!” He was about to object, but another voice piped up. “Hey, what’s goin’ on?” it asked. It was Ryuji. Lucina put her head in her hands, groaning. “I came to tell Akira that Morgana’s gone off somewhere and I can’t find him, but I heard somethin’ about a room, and-” 

“NO!” Lucina shouted, causing everyone to jump slightly. “Nobody is going to that room! I don’t want to hear about it again!” she said, and stormed off. Ryuji watched her go, and then turned back to the three teens. “Anyways, what’s she talkin’ about?” he asked, looking at Link. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair before speaking. “Basically, I was taking a walk with Lucina earlier, and we found this weird room that neither of us had ever seen before, and it was really old and really far down the halls, and I bet if I tried, it wouldn’t be there anymore, so can we just drop this and move on?” Ryuji crossed his arms. “But what if Morgana’s down there? Maybe he found the room and went inside and for whatever reason he can’t get out unless we go get him? Yknow, that creepy room sounds like it only appears when someone wants to go inside, right? And I know that there’s no way Mona’s gonna get that door to open by himself!” he said, looking at Link. “Whaddya say?” Link sighed, saw the determined look on Ryuji’s face, and knew that he wouldn’t take no for an answer. “Fine,” he said. “Let’s go.” Red, who had been listening to them argue, put his fork down and stood up. “Count me out of it,” he said. “I’m going upstairs. I don’t want to get involved in this creepy stuff.” 

“You’ll be missin’ out, then!” Ryuji called out at him as he walked away. Joker smiled, Link sighed and got out of his seat, and together, the three of them began making their way out of the dining room and down the hallway.

Link didn’t say much as he led the two teens down the long, dark hallway to where he remembered seeing the room. At first, he listened to them whispering excitedly to each other, but as they descended deeper and deeper into the vast hallways of the Mansion, they grew more nervous, not really saying much, Joker constantly checking the time on his phone and Ryuji looking over his shoulder every other minute. The air seemed to be getting colder, the wood creaking loudly underneath their feet with every step and the lamps flickering ominously as they passed. With every passing minute, Joker began feeling more and more annoyed. Link should have found that room by now. He felt like something was following them, occasionally feeling something on his neck that went away as soon as he noticed it. Ryuji seemed paranoid too, his hands in his pockets and his eyes darting around nervously at every noise he heard. The lamps on the walls were growing scarcer and farther apart the further they walked, and soon, the only light source they had was from Joker’s phone’s flashlight. Not only were they now in the dark, but the creaks and groans from the house were growing louder and happening more often. “Where are these creepy noises even comin’ from, anyways?” he wondered aloud after hearing a loud groan coming from somewhere above them. “Old buildings make noises like that all the time,” Link replied. “I think we’ll be there soon, anyways.” He stopped suddenly, making the two boys behind him jump. “Wait,” he whispered. “I think…”

“You think what?!” Ryuji hissed, flinching when Joker smacked his arm to shut him up. “Listen, if this is gonna turn into some creepy horror movie shit, I’m not gonna be the one that dies first-” 

_Creeeeak._

  
  


The three boys froze at the sound, turning around slowly to find the source of the sound. Joker held up his phone and shined it at the wall, illuminating what they hoped to be the source of the sound. A door had opened seemingly on its own, and it seemed to be beckoning for them to go inside as they stared at it in horror. It was completely silent, none of them moving a muscle as they gaped at the door. Dust was flying all around them, as if they were in a long-abandoned building untouched by anyone for years. The light from Joker’s phone was moving, as his hands were shaking out of fear. The phone then suddenly fell out of his hand and landed on the floor, causing everyone to flinch at the sound. Reluctantly, Joker knelt down and picked up his phone, holding it back up to shine the light at the door. They stood in silence for another moment, and then Link felt his stomach drop when he heard a familiar sound.

_Tick, tick, tick….._

“Do you guys hear that?” he mouthed, barely making enough sound to be understood. Both Joker and Ryuji nodded at him and turned their heads back to the door, which was still open, seemingly waiting for them to enter. Static filled the air, and the hairs on the back of their necks were standing on end. “I think… I think we should go inside.” Joker whispered back, and while Link nodded, still hearing that ticking noise, Ryuji looked as if Joker had suggested they jump off a skyscraper. “Are you crazy?!” he hissed back. “There’s probably something in there that wants to kill us!” Link glared at him and nudged his arm. “You’re the one that wanted to come down here in the first place!” he breathed. Ryuji was about to respond, but he stopped when Joker took a step towards the door. When no one objected, he took another, then another, until he was standing in the doorway, looking behind him at Link and Ryuji standing right behind him. “Let’s go,” he whispered, and once again, no one said a word. The ticking sound continued, mixed with the sounds of the boys’ pounding hearts. Joker took another step forward, and felt something break under his boot, followed by a horrible crunching noise. Unable to stand being in the dark anymore, Link shoved past him and slammed his hand into the room and on the wall, flicking on the light switch. 

He immediately wished he hadn’t.

The room was now in a state of complete decay. The once beautiful, ornate wooden bookshelves were rotting, their volumes coated in a thick layer of dust. The trophies were nearly unrecognizable, and were covered in cobwebs. The billiards table was covered by what they first thought was a cloth, but after looking at it for more than a few seconds, they realized it was actually a four inch thick blanket of dust and cobwebs. The floor was concealed by a mixture of dust and what looked to be tiny animal bones. Joker lifted his foot and nearly gagged when he saw what he had stepped on; the skeleton of what was either a mouse or a rat. Link covered his mouth in horror as he began to walk around the room, carefully avoiding stepping on any more bones, and Ryuji simply stood rooted in place, mouth agape at what he was seeing. Joker simply gazed at the room in awe, horrified yet intrigued at the scene before him. Was this the reason why Lucina didn’t want them to see the room? 

He turned off his flashlight and slipped his phone into his pocket, then began to walk around the room, cringing when he heard that awful crunching sound from under his foot again. It was nearly impossible for him to tell what the framed pictures on the walls were of, for they, like everything else in the room, were masked by a sheet of dust. He inspected each and every one of them, still hearing the ticking of a clock somewhere in the room, growing more and more unnerved every second he was there. He heard another set of footsteps beginning to move around, and turned his head back to the doorway, seeing Ryuji finally taking careful steps into the room to examine the billiards table. He was truly horrified at what he saw, wondering how such a room could exist and be neglected for so long in a place with so many residents. Where had all the animal bones come from? Just how old _was_ this building? And where was that godforsaken ticking coming from?

“Guys?” came Link’s voice from a corner of the room. Joker and Ryuji turned to face him, and they walked over to where he was standing. He was looking down into a drawer of an end table next to one of the rotted leather couches. Inside the drawer was the source of the ticking, an old wooden wall clock that was not only still working, but unlike anything else in the room, it looked well cared for and almost new. There wasn’t a speck of dust on it, and Joker and Ryuji peered over Link’s shoulders to watch the minute hand move as the ticking continued. They looked at each other, and back at the clock, which read 10:33. “Is it really that late already?” Ryuji murmured, pulling out his phone and looking at the time. “My phone says that it’s only 10:13…” Curious, Joker pulled out his own phone, and the time read the same: 10:13. As he slid it back into his pocket, he suddenly felt a terrible feeling of dread coming over him, and on instinct, pulled his dagger out of his belt. “Hey, guys, I think we should get out of here…” he said, gripping the handle and staring at the door. The lights began to flicker. Link dropped the clock, and the glass on the clock face shattered immediately when it hit the floor. Ryuji immediately ran to the door, kicking up dust and pieces of bone. The books on the shelves began falling off, and Link and Joker started running too, not daring to look behind them as they ran. In his haste, Joker tripped and fell, landing on the ground and hearing that now familiar crunching sound. The lightbulbs began exploding one by one as he scrambled to his feet, and he heard the lamp hanging over the billiards table fall and shatter as he slammed the door shut behind him. 

Without a word, the three boys began running as fast as they could back down the hallway towards the dining room where they left. They could feel as if something was chasing them, angry that they had defiled its precious room, growing closer and closer with every new stitch they felt in their sides. When they finally reached the dining room, all three of them collapsed onto each other, causing the entire room to fall silent and the Smashers that were still eating their dinner to turn their heads and stare. Panting, Link, Joker, and Ryuji helped each other to their feet, not caring about the whispers and stares they were getting. They gave each other a look, and without a word, turned and walked up the stairs, ignoring the heads following them as they disappeared around a corner. Lucina, who was finishing her desert, scowled as she watched them trudge up the stairs and down the hall. _That’s what they get for going back._

When Joker and Ryuji reached their bedrooms, they were greeted by the rest of the Phantom Thieves, who looked like they had been waiting for them for quite a long time. Morgana, sitting at Yusuke’s feet, observed the two of them up and down, seeing their sweaty faces covered in dust. “Care to explain?” he asked. Joker and Ryuji looked at the cat, then at each other, then back at their friends. “Let’s go inside,” they finally said in unison, then opened the door to Joker’s bedroom.

After a half an hour of explaining, Joker and Ryuji let out a long sigh and drank from glasses of cold water, exhausted from talking for so long. “Why did you even go inside when the door opened by itself?!” Futaba asked, crossing her arms. “Have you guys even _seen_ a horror movie?!” Ryuji gulped down the last of his water and slammed the glass on Joker’s desk. “That’s what I told him!” he said, glaring at Joker. “But he and Mister Hero of Hyrule wanted to go inside _so_ badly that I just decided to go in with them, ‘cause I knew that I didn’t have a choice!” Joker frowned. “I only wanted to go in because I remembered that _you_ wanted to go in because Lucina told you not to!” he replied, and just as Ryuji was about to retaliate, Ann held her hand up and spoke. “Listen, it’s really late now, it’s 11:33! Akira, don’t you have a match tomorrow morning?” He nodded. “We should get to bed then, alright? Just forget about all this for now, and we can talk about it tomorrow!” They all murmured in agreement, and said goodnight to each other as they exited Joker’s room. Morgana hopped onto Joker’s bed and watched him finish his glass of water and put on his pajamas. “You think this is gonna end up being a big issue?” he asked. Joker shrugged, plugging in his phone and taking off his glasses. “Maybe,” he said, laying down and pulling the blankets over him, Morgana stepping onto Joker’s pillow and laying down. “Only time will tell, right?” He reached over, turned off his table light and closed his eyes. “G’night, Morgana.”

“Goodnight, Joker.”

✭ ✭ ✭

She jolted awake, sitting up in bed, covered in cold sweat. The room was pitch-black and silent, and she felt energy surging through her as if she had just been electrocuted. She ran her fingers through her hair, and suddenly felt parched, as if she hadn’t drank any water for days. She got out of bed and stood up, and immediately sat back down, feeling incredibly dizzy. She needed water. Carefully, she felt her way along the walls and furniture of her bedroom and into the bathroom, running her hand along the wall to feel for the light switch. She found it, flicked it on, and walked to the sink, filled up a glass with cold water, and sipped it gingerly, watching herself in the mirror. She glanced at the alarm clock plugged in next to the sink, and felt her stomach drop when she saw the time.

3:33.

The glass fell from her hand, shattering all over the floor.

Yet it didn’t make a sound.

  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. An Idea Forms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucina gets a present, and Link has an idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello this is a short chapter but i wanted to update anyways  
> there's a chance i'll update again tomorrow bc i have a lot of free time at school so i hope i'll be able to update because i really like writing this  
> enjoy !

“So, let me get this straight.”

It was daytime.

Lucina sat at breakfast with Zelda and Samus, and was telling them what had happened to her the night before. Watery sunlight was shining through the windows, illuminating the wet ground outside from the previous night’s rain. When Lucina had finished talking, Zelda sat in silence, thinking, while Samus immediately responded.

“You woke up at 3 AM, you felt really dizzy, you went to go get a glass of water, you dropped it, and then it broke but didn’t make any noise?” She asked. Lucina nodded, picking at her food, not feeling very hungry. Samus scoffed. “No way. You were probably just imagining it. What do you think, Zelda? Think she’s bullshitting us?” Samus nudged Zelda’s arm to snap her out of her reverie. Zelda shook her head. “No,” she said. “Lucina is honest and trustworthy. This is a very old building. It wouldn’t be impossible for strange things to happen, especially to someone who experienced possibly paranormal activities.” Samus let out a bark of indignant laughter. “Paranormal? Are you serious?” She leaned over to look at Lucina, who flinched. “Lucina, do you really think this place is haunted?” 

“It might be,” someone said from behind Samus. She jumped and spun around to see Link standing behind her, holding a glass of orange juice in one hand and a plate of french toast in the other. “Mind if I sit here?” he asked, gesturing to the space next to Zelda. “Jesus, dude!” Samus said. “Yeah, just don’t scare me like that next time! You might actually convince me that ghosts are real!” Zelda laughed dryly at Samus’ remark and moved to the side so Link could sit down. “How are you?” she asked. “We were just talking about yesterday. Something weird happened to Lucina last night, and-”

“God, will you guys just shut up about that?!” Lucina yelled, startling everyone. Until that moment, she had been silent, barely eating her food and staring out the windows. Everyone around her turned to look at her, surprised at her outburst. “It happened, it was weird, and that’s it! I don’t want to talk about it anymore!” She laid her head on the table and covered her head with her hands. Zelda, Samus, and Link all looked at her with concern, and Link bit his lip anxiously when he saw someone’s hand tap Lucina’s shoulder. A red-gloved hand.

“What do you want now?!” Lucina groaned, turning around to answer the person behind her, scowling when she saw who it was. It was Joker, accompanied by Ryuji and holding what looked to be a bundle of small blue flowers held together by string with a piece of paper attached. “Whoa, sorry,” he said, holding a hand up. “I just came over here to talk to you.” Lucina glared at him, seeing that despite his fiasco from the previous night, he looked well-rested and relaxed, as if nothing had happened. “Whatever it is, make it quick.” she said. Joker chuckled softly and began to speak. “Well, first of all, I’ve got a fight in two minutes, so I will make it quick.” Lucina rolled her eyes, and Samus laughed. “Second of all, I didn’t want to talk to you about yesterday. I just wanted to show you these.” He held out the hand holding the flowers, and pointed to the small paper that was attached. Nothing was written on it, except the words “For Lucina”. She raised her eyebrows and glared up at Joker, who looked slightly amused. “Is this a joke?” she asked. “Did your dumb friends put you up to this?” Ryuji started yelling, but Joker placed a hand on his arm, and turned back to Lucina. “No, I just found them in my bathroom earlier before I took a shower and I guess someone just got mixed up when they were trying to give these to you,” he said. “I don’t know where they came from, but I know they obviously weren’t for me.” He placed them in her hand, which she didn’t know she was holding out, then checked the time on his phone. “Looks like I’ve gotta go now, though, so if you want to find who sent you these, I can’t help you.” he said, turning to leave. “See ya!” Lucina watched him and Ryuji walking away to the main doors, scowling at them, then looking down at the flowers in her hand. They looked like little wildflowers from outside, and the paper attached to them was slightly damp. “Looks like you’ve got a secret admirer,” Samus said, smirking. Lucina just ignored her and stared at her food. Suddenly, though she didn’t know how, she felt different. 

She was  _ starving. _

  
  
  


Although he was seated near the front of the stands, Link wasn’t paying much attention to the match. Joker seemed to be beating Shulk to a pulp, and watching him battering his opponents was nothing new. He didn’t seem fazed at all by the events of the previous night, or at least, he wasn’t letting them affect his fighting. Link wondered if the room was still there, and even though it almost killed him, he almost wanted to go back. He, Joker, and Ryuji couldn’t be the only ones who saw it. Someone else had to have run into it before, and if no one else had, he  _ needed  _ to show someone, to prove he wasn’t crazy. It wasn’t just  _ folie à deux,  _ or,  _ trois,  _ in last night’s case.  _ No, it wasn’t madness _ , he thought.  _ Someone else  _ has _ to know.  _

After three minutes, the match was over. Joker was helping Shulk up from the ground and shook hands with him, then greeted his friends, who were waiting for him by the stands. “You effin’ bodied him, dude!” Ryuji shouted, slapping him on the back. “I almost felt bad for him, the way you kept kicking him in the stomach over and over again,” Makoto added. Joker ran his hand through his hair and smiled. “Hey, a win’s a win, right?” he said, glancing at the stands, watching the spectators leave. They were nearly completely cleared out, save for one person still in their seat. It was Link. “Whatcha lookin’ at, ‘Kira?” Morgana asked, jumping onto his shoulders. “We won! Let’s go back inside.” Akira shook his head, still looking at Link. “Hang on,” he said. “You guys can go inside. Ryuji, come with me.” They looked at him, surprised. He just gestured at Link, who was still sitting by himself, seemingly lost in thought. “I want to ask him something.” 

The other Phantom Thieves departed, leaving Joker and Ryuji alone with Link, who looked surprised to see them. “What are you guys still doing here?” he asked. Ryuji shrugged. “Beats me. You’d be better off asking him.” He jammed his thumb in Akira’s direction, who shrugged. “I just wanted to know what you were still doing here,” he said. “It looks like it’s going to rain again. If I were you, I’d go back inside.” he continued, gesturing at the cloudy sky. Link smiled halfheartedly and rubbed the back of his neck, not meeting the boys’ eyes. “I don’t mind. I was just thinking about things…” he said, trailing off as he stared at the now empty stage. “‘Bout what?” Ryuji asked. Link shrugged. “Nothing much. Just yesterday, and y’know, the room…” Joker tilted his head to the side and stared at him. “I thought you were gonna want to forget about that,” he said. “Seems like too much trouble to spend so much time worrying about.” Link took a deep breath and sighed. “Yeah, well, that kinda thing is hard to forget about when it almost kills you, ya know?” Joker snorted and looked at the ground. “Yeah, I guess when you put it like that, it is pretty unforgettable.” 

It was silent for a moment, then Link spoke up. “You know, I was thinking. Everyone’s gonna think we’re crazy if it’s just us talking about it. Wouldn’t it make more sense if we took some other people with us? Maybe Snake and Samus, or any other skeptics?” Joker raised his eyebrows, and Ryuji scoffed in disbelief. “Really?!” he asked loudly. “You wanna go back there? To the place that literally almost killed us?!” Joker nudged his arm to shut him up and Link began to speak. “I mean, with more people with us, we’ll be safer, right?” he said. “And maybe it’ll be different again, so we’ll have another different thing to talk about. No one would believe us if we brought more people but the room stayed the same.” Akira tapped his chin and thought for a moment while Ryuji rolled his eyes. “I guess, but that’s still dangerous!” he argued. “I just don’t wanna die, dude! Is that too much to ask?” Link thought for a moment before replying. “Yeah, but it is daytime. What if we went right now? Maybe it’s less dangerous during the day.” He watched the two boys consider the idea, and flinched when he felt a drop of rain on his forehead. “It’s starting to rain, so we better hurry up and make a decision.” Akira finally spoke up. “I guess now that it’s daytime, and more people might come with us, we could get a better result than last night,” he said, looking at Ryuji, who was still thinking. He and Link stared at him, until he finally looked up at them. “I guess there really isn’t any other option, is there?” he said, smiling determinedly. “We might even figure out who sent Lucina those flowers.” They stared at him, confused at his sudden show of interest after being so outwardly against the idea. “Well? What are we waitin’ for?” he said. “Let’s go!”


	3. The Next Step

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joker's plan moves forward, and Samus tags along for the ride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im surprised i actually wrote again today  
> this chapter isn't short this time though, so i hope u enjoy

None of the three boys were very confident in asking Samus for her help. Snake had told them to piss off, and Samus narrowed her eyes when they approached her. “What do you guys want?” she asked. “This better be important.” Link bowed his head and took a step back, blushing. “I think you’d be better asking her,” he said, nudging Joker forward. “It was your idea, right?” Joker laughed and took a step forward. “Of course,” he said, and looked up at Samus, staring her right in the eyes. “I know you’re not one for small talk, so let’s get right to it. We were thinking of checking out that weird room again today, because it’s daytime, and freaky stuff is less likely to happen if it’s daytime, right? And maybe we can convince you to not be such a skeptic.” He watched as Samus raised her eyebrows and folded her arms, obviously thinking it over. “And what would be the reward if I came with you nerds on your ghost adventure?” she asked sarcastically. “We’re not nerds!” Ryuji snapped. “And the ‘reward’ would be seeing some cool paranormal stuff!” Samus rolled her eyes, glanced at her watch, looked back at the boys, and sighed. “Well, I don’t have any fights until 4:30, and it’s only noon, so…” She paused and looked at the boys again, enjoying the hopeful looks on their faces. “I guess I’ll go.” Link and Joker smiled, and Ryuji pumped his fist in the air. “But, if I get hurt or die or get lost, you guys will never hear the end of it!”

Once again, Link led the way down the hall, now with three trailing behind him. The mood had drastically changed from excitement to unease as they descended deeper and deeper into the Mansion’s hallways. Samus and Joker held their guns ready at every small noise, and none of them said a word to each other. The air was thick and dusty and smelled slightly of decay, and the wood felt slightly damp under their feet. After what seemed like hours, Samus spoke up. 

“Do you guys remember this many clocks being in this place?” she asked, looking around. Link felt that familiar sensation of his stomach dropping to his feet as he looked around, observing the scene. Sure enough, there were many clocks of all shapes and sizes on the walls, all of them old and wooden and ticking ominously as they shifted their gaze to the walls. Ryuji began breathing heavily and shaking, muttering under his breath. “No way, no way, no effin’ way, dude…”

“It doesn’t matter! Let’s just keep going!” Link said suddenly, snapping them all out of their trance. Joker placed his hand on Ryuji’s shoulder and began walking again, incredibly aware of how fast his heart was racing. Samus looked extra nervous now, her shoulders hunched as she walked along with them. They continued on, passing more wall clocks and ancient-looking framed photos covered in dust. At one point, Joker sneezed, and a huge cloud of dust flew up around them. They began to feel a sense as if they were in a long-abandoned place, discarded by time and left to rot. Eventually, Link stopped, causing everyone to stop with him. He was standing in front of a door,  _ the  _ door, and breathed deeply to steady himself, as he felt his heart pounding as if he had just run a mile. Joker, Ryuji, and Samus all crowded around him, waiting for him to say something. “Well?” Samus said, sounding both annoyed and terrified. “Should we go in?” Link jumped and fumbled with the doorknob, turned it, and let go. The door opened slowly, its creaking echoing down the hallway, soon drowned out by the continuous ticking of the clocks on the surrounding walls. Joker kicked the floor to check for any left over debris from their previous encounter, but was surprised when he felt nothing. Curious, he felt along the wall and flicked on the light switch, gasping at what he saw.

Although the room was decayed and worn down the previous night, it had still been organized and orderly. However, that was not the case for the scene that met the group’s eyes. The room was now in a complete state of disarray, the billiards table sunken into the floor with the lamp that had once been hanging over it sunken into the center. The photos that were once hanging on the walls were shredded, their frames in pieces underneath the walls where they once hung. The bookshelves had been toppled over, the trophies and their cases were mostly shattered, and the couches were destroyed, the stuffing leaking out of the rips in the leather like blood seeping from a wound. The floor was now covered in a mix of shards of glass, pieces of wood, cobwebs, and mold. It looked as if a hurricane had stormed through long ago, no, as if someone had been desperately searching for something, and escaped in a hurry once they found it, never coming back again. Samus took a deep breath and stepped inside, immediately gagging at the horrid stench of rot that accompanied the scene before her. 

“What the hell is this place?!” she whispered, covering her face with her mouth and taking another step forward. “This is the creepy room you guys were talking about?!” Link nodded, bending down to observe the now demolished billiards table. Joker nudged a pile of papers that seemed to be ripped from the books that had been on the now destroyed bookshelves, noticing something lying underneath the shredded yellow papers. Curious, he pulled out his dagger and bent down to investigate them, pushing the papers aside with the tip of the knife, not wanting to touch them. He felt the others’ eyes on his back as he carefully pushed the papers aside to find what he was looking for, and eventually, it was unearthed, and the three peered over Joker’s shoulders to examine it. 

It was a picture, but unlike the ones that had been hanging on the walls before, it was not only intact, albeit slightly crumpled, but confusingly, it looked like  _ new.  _ Joker poked a small hole in the top with the tip of his dagger and held it to the light from one of the few remaining table lamps that were intact. The picture, though slightly blurry, was of Snake, sitting at a table by himself, eating breakfast. As he examined it, Joker suddenly heard a voice from behind him. “Hey, there’s more of these!” It was Ryuji. Joker turned around and looked down at Ryuji, who was sifting through the pile of papers frantically. “What?” he asked, dropping the photo he was holding and kneeling back down next to the pile. “There’s more pictures like this, look!” He was right. Scattered around were crumpled photos of the other Smashers, all doing mundane everyday things by themselves, and all of the photos were shaky and looked as if they were taken from far away. There was even one of Joker, doing his homework alone at a picnic table outside. Link and Samus joined them as they sorted the pictures, finding hastily taken photos of every single other resident of the Mansion. They eventually counted them all, 75 in total. 75.

“Someone’s missing!” Samus exclaimed, standing up. The three boys looked up at her, looks of fear beginning to show on their faces. “But… who…” Link murmured, going through the photos again. Suddenly, a feeling of dread went through Joker, a horrible feeling as if he was somewhere he was absolutely not supposed to be, like an invader who had provoked something incredibly dangerous. He gulped, stood up, and stared blankly at the door.

“Lucina.”

All of a sudden, he heard a familiar sound. The lightbulb in the lamp behind him exploded, sending shards of glass flying everywhere, cutting his cheek. Startled, Joker pulled out his pistol on instinct and fired at the lamp, shattering it. The papers at their feet began to stir, as if a breeze had come through the room. The ceiling began shaking, sending clouds of dust raining onto the group’s heads. The remains of the broken trophies began flying everywhere, as if someone, or something, was throwing the pieces at them. “Let’s go!” Samus shouted as a broken piece of a trophy flew at her, narrowly missing her arm. They began running, Joker and Samus firing frantically at whatever was ambushing them, slamming the door behind them. They stopped for a moment to catch their breath, staring at the door, which looked as unassuming and harmless as it did before they entered. “What the fuck just happened?!” Ryuji asked, panting with his hands on his knees. “I don’t know, but whatever it was, it definitely didn’t want us in there,” Link said. They were silent for another moment, breathing heavily and listening to the clocks on the walls still ticking like they had been before. “You still a skeptic?” Joker asked Samus, who was leaning against a wall and holding her arm. She glared at him, her face red. “Obviously not, idiot!” she hissed. “We almost died!” They nodded at each other, then began walking again. Joker, still nervous, gripped the handle of his dagger as he walked, raising his arm whenever he heard the floor creak underneath him or footsteps from the floor above. Link was exhausted. All he wanted was to go back to his room and take a long nap, not caring about the nightmares he might have. It didn’t matter. Just to be away from this hallway, from that room, from these fucking  _ clocks _ -

  
“Hey,” Samus said, startling him. “We’re back.” Link blinked and looked around, realizing where he was. They were back in the dining room, which was nearly empty. He looked at the large grandfather clock by the stairs, noticing that somehow, only an hour had passed since they left. “Huh,” Ryuji said. “Coulda sworn that we were out for longer.” Joker slipped his knife back into his belt and looked around nervously. “Yeah, I guess…” he mumbled. It was silent before Samus spoke again. “Well, if you excuse me, I’m off to go shower. I don’t want anything that’s been in that room still touching me.” They nodded and waved goodbye to her before heading upstairs and departing. When he returned to his bedroom, Joker immediately made a beeline for the bathroom and stepped into the shower, trying to make sense of what had just happened. He knew that odd things happening wasn’t unusual for him, considering that back in Tokyo he would literally enter alternate realities through a cell phone app, but ghosts? Just how old was this building? Whatever lived in that room, why did it not want anyone going in there, and more importantly, why was it stalking the Smashers and taking pictures of them when they were alone? And why did it have such an obsession with Lucina? Joker let these questions swirl around in his head as he felt the hot water hitting his skin.  _ You’ll be fine _ , came a voice from inside his head.  _ You’re the leader of the Phantom Thieves. Nothing can get in your way.  _ He sighed.  _ I guess, _ he thought, turning off the water and reaching for a towel.  _ But whatever it is, it can sure as hell try. _


	4. Melancholy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the days slow to a depressing, dreary halt, you almost wish something bad would happen to you. Unfortunately, sometimes, you get exactly what you ask for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi i'm sorry i haven't updated this in forever  
> however quarantine made me bored as FUCK and i decided that it would be a perfect time to write again  
> this chapter is based on several weird dreams i had so i'm sorry if they're a bit too strange for your tastes  
> however, if that's your kind of thing, i hope you enjoy

Ever since they were chased out of the mystifying room in the back hallways of the Mansion, the three Smashers (and Ryuji) were determined to forget it, and refrained from traveling to the back hallways at all. They figured that some things were better left unknown, and maybe, if they forgot about it, things would return to normal. For the first few days, it seemed as though their wishes had been granted. They were able to relax, much to the relief of those around them, and the general tone of things stayed as easygoing as ever. 

Soon, however, they discovered that their bizarre experiences were far from over. Just as soon as the Smashers had let their guards down, they found themselves subject to experiences far too unnatural to be brushed off as their imaginations. The weather, which had finally begun to warm up as the season changed, took a sudden plunge into cold and wet, with heavy, furious rainstorms drenching them from head to toe day in and day out. Unexplainable things began happening to everyone, including those who had nothing to do with Link, Joker, Samus and Ryuji’s misadventures in the back hallways. Flickering lights, leaky faucets, random power outages, slamming doors, everything you’d expect from the unexpected. Most of them dismissed it all as behaviors of an old building, but others, namely Rosalina and Palutena, had much to say about it, especially witnessing these oddities happening to the younger Smashers.

“Poor Junior’s been terrified ever since all of these peculiar things have been happening!” Rosalina complained to Snake one day. They had been talking over coffee in the kitchen as the rain pounded on the windows, Rosalina worried sick over the state of the Mansion, with Snake unbothered. “Since when have you been worried about Bowser’s child?” he asked, raising his eyebrows. “Since he came to me and Palutena yesterday crying about doors slamming in the hallway while he was passing by them!” she hissed back. “I was wondering why he asked me of all people, but honestly, isn’t that another sign that something’s wrong? People acting differently?” Snake scoffed and sipped his coffee. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Rosalina huffed and stared out the window at the nearly flooded grounds. “I’m just saying, you should at least pretend to care about what’s happening. Not everyone is as hardened and stoic as you.” Snake opened his mouth to argue, but he stopped, noticed the genuinely upset look on Rosalina’s face, and closed it, absentmindedly stirring his coffee with a spoon instead, joining her in watching the rain as it continued to batter the windows, their thoughts drowning in the deafening sound.

  
  


☓ ☓ ☓

Although everyone’s mood was dampened by the weather, no one seemed to be affected by it more than Joker. The days blended together, each one feeling the same, and with matches being cancelled due to the rain, he felt like nothing was worth getting out of bed for anymore. It took the encouragement of his friends and the disgusting feeling of staying in bed for too long to get him to eat and shower, and he hardly even noticed the strange things happening around him. Honestly, he didn’t know what all the fussing was about. What were a few slammed doors and flickering lights compared to everything else that happened around here? He hadn’t given much thought to the room in the back hallways, and it made him laugh to think that the strange things were happening because of it. “When I start getting messages written on my mirror in blood and a puppet on a VHS tape tells me that it wants to play a game, then I’ll be worried,” Joker told the Phantom Thieves over breakfast one day. “Besides that, I’ve got nothing to worry about.”

As the days continued to pass by, each one more slowly than the last, Joker found himself happiest when he was alone, citing the weather as the reason for his discomfort. It was partially true, as he had never enjoyed the rain, but he knew it must be something else that was eating away at his thoughts and preventing him from enjoying anything. He found it harder to sleep with each passing day, prompting him to take long, aimless walks around the Mansion while the other Smashers slept, not really caring where he was going, but at the same time, staying far away from the back hallways. Morgana accompanied him sometimes, staying silent as he trotted along beside Joker’s feet. He often found that there would be new passages and doors that he hadn’t seen before on his midnight strolls, but he knew better than to investigate. However, one night, while he was alone in a hallway upstairs, Joker heard something fall and hit the floor behind him, and he found that his curiosity had finally overtaken his apathy. With a sigh of dread, he slowly turned around, and was greeted with the sight of an open closet door at the end of the hallway.

“Strange,” Akira whispered to himself as he approached it cautiously. “I don’t remember seeing this closet here…” He glanced at the doors along the wall, trying to remember if he had ever been down this hallway at all. He recognized some doors as belonging to Zelda and Bayonetta, because of the small golden plaques on their doors sporting their symbols, but others were either belonging to fighters he did not know very well, or were seemingly empty. Akira ignored the anxiety gnawing at the back of his head and approached the open closet tentatively. With his eyes slightly adjusted to the darkness, he knelt down and tried to find whatever had fallen and drawn him to the closet. When he found nothing, he ignored his brain begging him to leave and peered into the closet, thinking that perhaps whatever had fallen didn’t make it into the hallway. He just wanted to put it back, was all. It was a stupid, reckless idea, but right now, he had abandoned logic and reason for curiosity and intrigue. Akira knew his decision was stupid, and he began to feel foolish as he found nothing on the closet floor. 

He felt even dumber when he realized that his whole body was in the closet now, and felt the familiar sensation of his stomach dropping when the door closed behind him, and with a horrible clicking sound, it locked.

“Hey!” he shouted, spinning around and jiggling the handle. Of course it wouldn’t budge. “HEY! What the fuck?!?! Let me out!!!” Akira banged on the door, hoping that his shouting and pounding would wake someone up and alert them of his pathetically stupid predicament. “Zelda! Bayonetta! Somebody! I’m locked in the fucking closet! Help!” He continued pounding on the door, growing more and more panicked as each second passed. “Can anybody hear me?! I’m stuck in the closet! Morgana! I got locked in this stupid closet! Let me out!” Akira continued yelling, hoping his racket would be enough to wake someone up. He didn’t care how much they berated him for making such a stupid mistake. He just wanted to get out, back to his room, his bed, where he would be _safe_. Akira groaned when he felt in his pockets for his phone and remembered he had left it on his desk. Fuck. How fucking stupid could he be?! He felt around the floor in every corner, crack and crevice for a paperclip or hairpin, something to pick the lock with, but he found nothing. Figures. Only a magical closet that appears out of nowhere could be completely empty of something to help him with. Akira stretched out his leg as far as he could in the tiny space and tried kicking the door, but to no avail. Defeated, he sunk against the wall and ran his hands through his hair, groaning. This was the dumbest thing he had ever done. This was dumber than any stunt he had ever pulled in Tokyo, dumber than any mistake on a test, dumber than accepting the invitation to this tournament…

As the thoughts swirled around his head and the passing minutes turned into hours, Akira began to grow drowsy. It was the middle of the night after all, and he had definitely used up most of his remaining energy trying to escape his situation. He leaned up against the door and tried once again to call for help, feeling sudden anger as he felt hot tears stinging his eyes as he gripped the cold metal of the doorknob. “Please... just let me out… You don’t have to tell me I’m stupid for doing this…” He hadn’t felt so weak in a very long time. Akira scolded himself for making such a big deal over such a small, stupid mistake. _Listen to yourself,_ he thought, as a miserable whine escaped his throat and dissolved into the dusty air. _You’re acting like this is life or death. Just wait, idiot. Someone’ll notice that you’re gone eventually._ Akira groaned and pulled a coat off of its hanger above him, folded it up and leaned his head against it, closing his eyes. _They’d better,_ he thought. _I’m not dying in this fucking closet._

 _That’s the spirit,_ the once scolding voice assured him. _Now rest._


End file.
